San Diego final - signing off for a bit

Our last sunset on the Silver Strand before we head back to Vegas. How could we pass up on the last opportunity for a campfire as well! We couldn’t. The ocean, the sunset, the crackling of the logs on the fire, it was a night made in heaven.

For her birthday, Karen gave the Woman some special packets that when you put them in a campfire, they cause the flames to turn electric colors – lots of bright yellows, blues, greens and purples. We got all the colors of the rainbow in our last fire.

We have to sign off for a bit, until 2019 when we plan to head toward Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. However, we can’t sign off without finding one more new bird to identify. We spotted this lone Western Grebe defending his space on the Silver Strand State Beach, fending off seagulls twice his size!

Talk to you soon – in 2019!

San Diego VII

Well we are bringing our summer travels to a close and heading back to Vegas. However, before we headed out, we needed to try to identify a couple of birds we’ve been seeing. While snooping around in the Tijuana River Preserve near the Mexican border south of Imperial Beach, we spotted these pretty yellow-bellied birds all over the place. Based on a distant blurred siting and a good description of its habitat and behaviors, we are pretty certain that we spotted Orange-Crowned Warblers, another first for us!

We also have seen these before, but just assumed they were some kind of Snipe or Dowitcher, which we have seen in Alaska and along the West Coast. However, based again on a combination of the visual siting along with a detailed description of the kind of habitat it likes, and how it feeds, particularly by the water, we are pretty sure this is a Least Sandpiper, another first identification for us.

Talk to you soon!

San Diego VI

We set out on an adventure to see how folk live and survive in California. We hopped the Coaster, the commuter railroad that brings folk from the coastal cities where they can more afford to live to San Diego where they need to go to get meaningful employment. Just for giggles we headed for Solana Beach, only because we hadn’t been there before.

It was fun to be on a train again, even if only a commuter. We sat in the vista dome car and watched as the coastal views whisked by. We steamed by the horse racing track at Del Mar that Nick and I visited a decade or so ago. It was just a quick out and back, with a nice lunch in the Naked Café beachside at Fletcher Cove.

We strolled a bit in downtown San Diego before and after the Coaster ride. We had forgotten just how many glass curtain wall buildings there are in central San Diego. Everywhere we looked we not only saw sky scrapers, we saw the reflections of other sky scrapers blazoning the sides of each building.

Colectiva is parked between a public marina and a commercial marina. The commercial marina has impressive equipment, and seem to be in the process of removing huge ships used in the summer for dinner cruises, bay cruises or whale watching. We watch daily as the ships being plucked from the water get bigger and bigger. 

We are blessed to get several dog walks along the shore each day. Marina Park is a hopping place and is always crowded with people, enjoying the expanses along the bay. Only in California would you find this. Separate facilities for those with multiple personalities. They are free to belly up here and have a rousing game of chess with themselves!

Talk to you soon!

San Diego V

We’ve been really pleased with all the water birds we stumble on daily. We have been seeing many of the birds we were used to seeing on the Texas gulf coast. We have seen Snowy Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Green Herons, Curlews, Snowy Plovers and Sandpipers. We may have spotted a few more, but they were far away and we couldn’t be certain. The Woman spotted her favorite bird nearly daily for the last week on the shores of Mission Bay – a beautiful Little Blue Heron.

So, it’s not just the traffic that is horrendous in California. The crowds, the lack of parking, the general congestion, the crowded restaurants – everything is just so busy that it really dampens the nice parts – the water, the weather, the wildlife, the restaurants and the views. However, what might be the worst of all is trying to get diesel fuel in California, especially in the urban areas. You can find diesel fuel pumps, you just can’t find any that will accommodate a 40-foot motorhome towing a car!

This Curlew was outside our motorhome on Silver Strand State Beach pretty much every morning when we went on our beach patrol. Teresa and the Woman would grab a trash bag and pick up general beach trash, which was everywhere. Since I didn’t have any antibacterial gloves, I just checked out the Curlew and the hundreds of Snowy Plovers.

Talk to you soon!

San Diego IV

We decided to visit the Tijuana River Preserve, which hugs the US/Mexico border just south of San Diego. We grabbled some caches, and also took in the unique terrain of the Preserve. Of course, being on the border, there is a zone of no-mans-land on the US side, but dense buildings and residential areas running all the way to the border line on the Mexican side – a bit surreal.

On one of the weekends we headed up into the Laguna Mountains to do some hiking with Nick and Valerie. We also planned a visit to the mining town of Julian so that the Woman, Nick and Valerie could get some apple pie with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream. It’s a delicacy that Julian is known for, and can be found at pretty much any dining establishment in town. We were surprised by the fall colors that were blanketed all over the Mountain – a pleasant, unexpected reward.

And the Woman was in ecstasy! The Pacific Crest Trail wanders through the Laguna Mountain Park, and many years ago we had hiked a part of it. Along a portion of the PCT we discovered a spontaneous memorial. Some biker’s loved ones brought his ashes to this overlook that was his favorite place to bike to. Other bikers’ loved ones started creating memorials to their families as well. Now there may easily be more than 100 plaques, urns, pictures and other types of memorials for all kinds of bikers.

But we managed to find a stretch of the PCT that the Woman had not been on before. Nick and Valerie were more than willing to hike into the hills, experience a piece of the PCT, and take in the glorious fall colors. All in all, it was a wonderful day with the family!

Talk to you soon!

San Diego III

Nick and Valerie invited us over for dinner and a pumpkin carving party in anticipation of Halloween. It was a BYOP (bring your own pumpkin) event, so we headed to Ralphs and got a spectacular specimen. After enjoying Valerie’s special eggplant, mozzarella and marinara dish, we carved furiously. I think we all did pretty good!

While roaming around Nick and Valerie’s neighborhood we stumbled on the iconic Ann’s Dry Cleaning. Apparently, Ann’s had been a staple in the neighborhood for decades before Ann passed on and the business closed. The new tenant apparently missed Marketing 101 in college, as they decided to keep the identical look and name. The only difference is, as shown on the sign to the left of the door, is that it is now a gelato shop. However, what do I know – they seem to be doing a bang-up business!

Nick and Valerie gave the Woman a very special birthday present – a reservation for a jeep wine tasting tour in Temecula. We strapped into the back of an open-air Wrangler and headed out to visit some of the over 40 mostly family wineries in the Temecula valley. Because of the tour organization we were able to do our tastings while sitting on the patio overlooking the winery. Coupled with a nice lunch, and some drives through and among the actual grape vines, it made the Woman’s birthday experience complete

We have moved to the other side of the bay now, at the Chula Vista RV Resort. But the sun down displays just keep on rolling. Instead of watching the sunset from the Silver Strand, we are now looking across the Strand to watch the sun setting on the Strand itself. However, they are every bit as special and never disappoint. 

Talk to you soon!